My Farming Domain Is Broken

The smooth black stone felt far heavier than its size suggested. Six closed eyes were carved across its surface.

Kaia approached after noticing that he had stopped moving. "What is it?"

Carlos showed her the description. Her expression hardened before she finished reading.

"It would remove most of our blind spots," she said. "But the warning is worse than the benefit it offers."

"I agree. I already have enough things trying to find and kill me without personally inviting another one."

Carlos tried returning the eye to his inventory.

[Storage failed]

He frowned and tried again.

[Storage failed]

The carvings shifted beneath his fingers. Carlos nearly dropped the stone when one of the six closed eyes suddenly opened.

Ironroot vanished.

For one breath, Carlos stood inside an endless chamber where thousands of chained creatures knelt in rows.

Something enormous waited beyond them. He could not see its body, but a pale eye opened within the darkness and stared directly at him.

The vision disappeared, leaving him inside Ironroot with the black stone still trapped inside his shaking hand.

Five of its carved eyes remained closed. The first one stayed open and continued staring without ever moving again.

"What happened?" Kaia asked, already gripping her sword.

"Something looked back."

He wrapped the stone in three layers of cloth, locked it inside an iron box from the Tool Workshop and placed it beneath the Lord’s hut.

The eye refused to enter his inventory, but apparently it could still be locked somewhere everyone knew to avoid.

Carlos decided against telling the others about the chamber. Panic would protect nobody, and he would not bind it without understanding the danger.

Right now, he had walls that were actually broken and enemies he already knew existed.

"Enough cursed rewards," Carlos muttered before opening the Territory panel. "Let’s build something that does not stare back."

--

Territory Level: 2

Area: 1,800 square meters

Residents: 8

Combat Troops: 9

Buildings: 10

Farm Plots: 3

Territory Experience: 780/1,000

--

The numbers looked impressive until Carlos raised his head and saw the damage. Another attack could still walk through the broken wall.

Kaia and the four Veteran Guards began placing the Iron-reinforced Wall Sections around the fields, residences and production buildings.

Carlos followed their progress. When Kaia changed the planned position, he made her explain why.

"This side leaves the kitchen exposed," Carlos said.

"It also forces anyone approaching it to pass beneath two towers," Kaia answered, drawing the possible route across the soil.

Carlos studied the angle before nodding. "Keep it. Leave two entrances, but I want both watched from above."

One entrance faced the conquest portal. The other faced the empty land reserved for future buildings.

Carlos constructed the two additional Guard Towers, bringing the total around the inner territory to four.

Kaia placed that archer in the southern tower and left the others empty instead of wasting trained melee fighters above the walls.

Brann and Garr tested the finished sections with their hammers. Carlos winced at every strike.

Nothing moved.

"Better," Brann decided.

Garr nodded as if this were the greatest praise any wall could receive.

Carlos almost laughed. "Try not to destroy them while proving they cannot be destroyed."

The walls were useful, but walls without enough defenders were only expensive obstacles. Carlos went directly toward the Blue Water Slime Barrack.

--

Upgrade Requirements:

Wood x200

Stone x200

Slime Core x50

--

The fifty Slime Cores hurt more than the wood or stone. The Reverse Conquest would not keep paying forever.

Carlos confirmed the upgrade anyway. The circular pool expanded, its stone border rose higher and another blue crystal appeared above the water.

--

Blue Water Slime Barrack

Level 2

Uncommon Grade

Daily Summon: 2 Blue Water Slimes

Summoned Troop Ability:

Water Shot (Level 1)

Barrack Effects:

Slime mana recovery increased by 10% while inside the barrack.

--

One and Two immediately jumped into the larger pool, bouncing beneath the crystals as if Carlos had upgraded their personal playground.

"No agricultural abilities, no strange professions and no helping Rowan plant wheat," Carlos told them. "You two shoot water at enemies."

One bounced against Two. Two copied it a moment later.

He stored enough Slime Cores inside the barrack for several days, then resisted the temptation to summon more immediately.

Daily summons meant little if he could not feed the troops afterward. That lesson was finally starting to remain inside his head.

The Bearkin Guardian Hall demanded more resources than Carlos wanted to sacrifice, so he turned toward the empty Guard Towers instead.

"We have walls and towers now," Carlos told Kaia. "What we don’t have are enough people capable of using them."

"Archers," Kaia replied immediately. "Four at minimum. More after another expansion."

Archer Lodge prices had increased after every Lord discovered the value of ranged attacks.

Carlos rejected several insulting offers before Cosmic found a seller who wanted food instead of rare materials.

--

Woodland Archer Lodge

Uncommon Grade

Summons trained human archers suited to defending walls and towers.

Abilities:

Bow Mastery (Level 1)

Focused Shot (Level 1)

Daily Summon: 1 Woodland Archer

Daily Food Consumption: 3 Basic Meals per Archer

Building Requirements:

Wood x180

Stone x100

Processed Leather x20

--

The seller demanded two hundred Copper Coins and fifty cooked meals delivered across five days.

Mira’s kitchen produced two hundred and fifty meals daily. Ten more would not endanger their existing agreements.

Carlos accepted before someone else noticed the reasonable offer.

[Trade completed]

[Woodland Archer Lodge Blueprint x1 obtained]

He constructed the lodge between two towers, with its practice targets facing away from the fields.

A woman wearing green leather armor emerged from the completed building with a longbow resting over one shoulder.

--

Woodland Archer

Level 2

Uncommon Grade

Abilities:

Bow Mastery (Level 1)

Focused Shot (Level 1)

Favorability: 15/100

--

"Name?" Carlos asked.

"Nessa, my lord."

Kaia led Nessa away immediately to test her range from the nearest empty tower.

One Archer was not enough. Ironroot also needed cheap soldiers to hold entrances while Brann and Garr moved between emergencies.

Carlos found a Common Shield Militia Barrack for one hundred and twenty Copper Coins.

--

Shield Militia Barrack

Common Grade

Daily Summon: 2 Shield Militia

Ability:

Shield Block (Level 1)

Daily Food Consumption: 2 Basic Meals per Militia

Building Requirements:

Wood x120

Stone x100

Iron Ore x10

--

The Militia would never match Kaia’s Veterans, but Carlos did not need them to.

They could hold entrances, carry equipment and support stronger troops without eating enough food to cripple the territory’s production.

Carlos constructed their barrack beside the western gate and summoned the first two Militia.

Kaia handed them shields from the Tool Workshop and began drilling them without offering either frightened man time to admire Ironroot.

Watching them stumble into position should not have made Carlos feel safer, but the territory finally had the beginning of an actual defensive force.

For once, strengthening Ironroot had not required Carlos to enter another conquest and nearly die inside it.